I used to tell folks (who asked) that I had an inquiring mind—and inquiring minds want to know.
I was an Early Childhood and Parent Education teacher for thirty years. I loved teaching the little ones; especially the three-year-olds who had the questions that fit my own inquiring mind. One year, I kept a list of the questions they asked me. I wrote the questions on the chalk board in the Parent Education room so their parents could see what the kids were thinking about.
Here are some of the questions I collected that year:
1. Why don’t birds fall out of the trees when they go to sleep?
2. How come polar bears don’t wear winter coats?
3. If a fly has no wings, what is it called?
4. Does a fly use glue to keep his feet stuck to the ceiling?
5. Do I have to go to sleep (to bed) to have a daydream?
6. Does the dentist take his own teeth out or go see another dentist?
7. Do these stairs go up or down?
8. How does the Easter Bunny lay all those colored eggs?
I think I’m an intelligent person, even on the days that I question every move I make. And, perhaps this is stretching it, but I am pretty sure I have a fair amount of common sense. However, I’m just not clear about the behavior of some folks around me. It seems that as I age, I am more and more unclear about what people are thinking, why they do things the way they do, and what is the reasoning behind these behaviors. And I still have an inquiring mind, so . . .
Here are some things I am unclear on. I wonder if any of you, gentle readers could help me understand:
1. Why bike in the street, (endangering yourself) when the bike path is literally feet away? And, moreover, why jog in the street, making cars swerve around you, when the sidewalk is RIGHT THERE.
2. Why turn right (in front of me) from the center lane when the right turn lane is literally beside you, and you had plenty of time to get into that lane?
3. Why go to the baseball game and sit in the Barcalounger to watch the game on TV when the game is in-the-flesh—LIVE, literally yards away?
4. Why bring food to a ball game when you know you’re going to spend $50, or more, on what you really came to eat? (I think this may go into the ‘fooling oneself’ category)
5. Why expect the landlord to continue to let you live there when you haven’t paid rent in nine months? How long did you plan to stay before paying, at least toward the rent? Why not try working something out?
6. Why so people have a private conversation in a public place, especially when they are loud enough so that everyone around them can hear? And further, why do they give the rest of us dirty looks for “eavesdropping” on something we clearly do not want to hear?
7. Why do people say, “Can I ask you a question?” That already is a question. And further, why do phone callers ask me if this it’s me – using my name, when they clearly called me so should expect it would be me.
8. I know, this dates me, but I still do not get it: Why do some men wear their pants below their buttocks? It seems like that ensures the pants will fall down and it must be really uncomfortable to walk. I envision criminals with their pants that low while trying to run away and I have to laugh because their fashion choice would definitely be working against a clean get-away.
9. Why don’t we let go of our past—as in identifying with our heritage instead of our nationality? Many people say they are Italian, German, African American, Irish, Peruvian, etc., when they don’t speak the language, have never been in that country and have no real connection to those countries anymore. “In other parts of the world, people just identify with the country they were born in or have lived in for a significant amount of time, regardless of their ancestry.”[1] We talk a lot about coming together as one nation, but until we start calling ourselves Americans, we will continue to be divided.
10. Why do some people still use a can-opener when the can has a ring-pull opener?
11. For those people who are having hysterics because they have to wear a mask; what about the
“no shirt, no shoes” edict? What about seatbelts? Seems like the same thing to me. What am I missing?
That’s a few of the things I’m curious about today. I may have another list tomorrow. What are you curious about?
Resources:
Foreigners Reveal: 17 Weird Things Americans Do (That We Think Are Normal) by Laura Begley Bloom, Senior Contributor, Forbes, at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2020/07/08/foreigners-reveal-weird-americans/?sh=77ab26d72883
Some of life’s imponderables, questions difficult to answer. March 31, 202.0 From Hints and Things website, at: https://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/games/imponderable.htm
Funny Imponderable Questions Life’s Little Perplexities by Ben Reed, Jan. 16, 2021, Letterpile at: https://letterpile.com/humor/Funny-Imponderable-Questions-Lifes-Little-Perplexities
[1] Foreigners Reveal: 17 Weird Things Americans Do (That We Think Are Normal) by Laura Begley Bloom.